Homewood Skiers Revel in Late Season Snow

HOMEWOOD -- Late season storms in the Sierra have given new life to ski resorts.

It was a great bluebird day Friday and many boarders and skiers were excited to hit the slopes.

"Today has been just great because the snow stayed cold, and then it snowed last night and it was just incredible," said Rafal Waligora from San Francisco.

Homewood Mountain Resort says it's had to keep snow machines going on a few icy patches and lower mountain runs still had rocks and shrubs peaking through the snow. However, storms this week, and more in the forecast, have dumped enough snow to open runs that were previously shut down.

"We're planning on opening our Ellis chair lift tomorrow and that's something that we haven't been able to do for a little over a week. And so we're really excited to get that back open again," said Ariel Macrae with Homewood Mountain Resort.

Now the resort says they were just expecting 3 to 6 inches, but they actually ended up with between 10 to 14. That had a lot of people who were skiing saying it was the best conditions they've had all season.

"I mean, this is incredible because it's cold. You know how Tahoe gets a little warm and then it's slow and slushy?" Waligora said.

Although this latest storm came after Presidents Day, one of the busiest weekends of the season, Homewood and other resorts believe the new snow will allow them to stay open well into spring, perhaps saving what started off as a dry ski season.

"Our tentative plan is to close on April 8th," Macrae said. "We'll see how conditions peak up and whether we decided to extend or not."

It was cold at night, which was perfect for the snow machines. Resorts hope visitors from the valley and Bay Area know that even if it's not raining where you are, it doesn't mean there's not new snow going on the slopes.